US Muslims seek jobs with Obama administration

In the latest sign that the Muslim American community is becoming better organized and more activist, a book with the résumés of 45 successful Muslim Americans was submitted to the White House in the hopes they will be considered for some of the thousands of jobs that have yet to be filled.

Muslim Americans overwhelmingly supported Barak Obama during the campaign and community leaders, including the first Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison, want to ensure they are considered for positions in the new administration.

“The goal is to bring to the Obama administration the talent that is available out there in the Muslim community,” Ellison’s senior policy advisor, Rick Juaert, told AlArabiya.net.

“There’s some 8,000 jobs yet to be filled, so his (Ellison’s) point is there’s a lot to be done but a lot has been done already, and that we should be doing something proactive which is what this is in terms of getting Muslim names and faces out there so that as the jobs get filled we make sure that there are Muslim faces among them,” he added.

President Barak Obama has made several overtures to Muslims since taking office after seeming to shun them during the campaign, when rumors he was a Muslim threatened to torpedo his candidacy and his staff prevented women wearing the hijab, or headscarf, from getting photographed with him.

He became the first president to mention the word Muslim during his inaugural address and has since reached out to Muslims at home and abroad, most recently in a videotaped message to Iran. But Obama has yet to name any of America’s estimated seven million Muslims to a key position.

The goal is to bring to the Obama administration the talent that is available out there in the Muslim community

Rick Juaert

Getting in the game

Community leaders hope this will change, so after culling through hundreds of résumés they chose 45 – Ivy League graduates, Fortune 500 executives and civil servants from both sides of the aisle – of the most experienced, most highly educated with a commitment to public service.

“This past election was a watershed for the Muslim community,” said Jihad Saleh Williams, program coordinator for the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association (CMSA), who helped cull through hundreds of résumés. “The Muslim community needs to be very proactive -- as any other community would be -- but not from the standpoint there needs to be X number of Muslims in an administration.”

The White House said that religion would not play a part in the hiring process.

“The White House appreciates the input from concerned outside organizations as we fully consider all applicants regardless of their religion or national origin, and as we continue to fill positions throughout the Administration,” White House spokesperson Shin Inouye told AlArabiya.net.

Résumé lists are commonly presented to the government by groups like African-Americans, Jewish Americans, social progressives and others to help build awareness, explained Williams, adding that all of the résumés were vetted and had already been submitted to Change.org, the administration’s jobs database.

The White House appreciates the input from concerned outside organizations as we fully consider all applicants regardless of their religion or national origin, and as we continue to fill positions throughout the Administration

Shin Inouye, spokesperson

An important first

This is the first time, however, that the Muslim American community has participated in the process.

"It was mostly under the radar," said Williams, explaining that despite the fact that such lists are quite common organizers knew the press could be “concerned” about it. "We thought it would put Obama in a precarious position. We didn't know how closely he wanted to appear to be working with the Muslim American community."

Such concern about participating in a normal civic practice could help explain why a recent poll found Muslim Americans, who are more highly educated and younger than the general population, also feel more socially alienated.

The Obama campaign, however, inspired this new generation of younger Muslims, who came into their own and got out the vote, said Williams, adding that this election was the first time the Muslim American community even showed up on the candidates’ radar.

“They want to show their patriotism,” said Williams. “It’s also our fair right to try to promote our full civic and government participation at all levels.”

We thought it would put Obama in a precarious position. We didn't know how closely he wanted to appear to be working with the Muslim American community

Jihad Saleh Williams